Bamidbar 13: Joshua the Mole

Every single one of the spies is new to the text except for one- Yehoshua. After the text lists all twelve spies, it adds “Those were the names of the participants whom Moses sent to scout the land; but Moses changed the name of Hosea son of Nun to Joshua” (verse 16).אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־שָׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לָתוּר אֶת־הָאָרֶץ וַיִּקְרָא מֹשֶׁה לְהוֹשֵׁעַ בִּן־נוּן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ׃ (Numbers 13:16)There is one problem with this verse. Except for this chapter, Joshua is never named Hoshea. In Exodus 17, in Joshua’s first appearance, Moshe appoints him to lead the garrison against Amalek. Joshua appears again in Exodus 32 informing Moshe about the Golden Calf and in Exodus 33, as Moshe’s attendant. In Numbers 11, Joshua rushes to imprison Eldad and Maydad when they begin to prophesize with the 70 elders. It is clear that Joshua was Moshe’s right hand man well before God selects him to lead the Israelites into the Land of Canaan. It is a little odd that 11 of the spies are new and yet Joshua appears in the list. Furthermore, while Joshua and Caleb are the only spies allowed to enter the land, it is only Caleb speaks out against the other 10 spies in verse 30. Moshe must have been skeptical of the idea of sending spies. Some commentators explain that when God tells Moshe “send spies for yourself” in the opening verse, the Torah is pointing the finger at the people. God did not see a need for the spies, but the people wanted them. Sensing trouble, Moshe sends Joshua hoping that at least one of the spies would come back with a positive message. When the spies return, however, Caleb speaks up to defend the land. Perhaps Joshua knew that if only he would speak up, the people would think he was biased. Instead, Caleb gets the speaking opportunity, but Joshua provides support later in chapter 14. So then why is Joshua given a name change here? The midrash explains that God took the letter “yud” from Sarai’s name when it was changed to Sarah, and gave to Joshua. That is a very nice story, but what is the connection? When God changed Sarai’s name he blessed her “I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her” (Genesis 17:16).וּבֵרַכְתִּי אֹתָהּ וְגַם נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנָּה לְךָ בֵּן וּבֵרַכְתִּיהָ וְהָיְתָה לְגוֹיִם מַלְכֵי עַמִּים מִמֶּנָּה יִהְיוּ׃Joshua will eventually be the first appointed ruler of the Israelites. Moshe comes on to the scene before they are a people, but Joshua leads them as a nation. The most difficult job of a new leader is to do what is right in the face of the mob. Moshe knows that the spy mission was doomed to fail, and he needed an inside man on the job. Caleb may have started the argument, but only someone with the gravitas of Joshua could back it up. Moshe knew how difficult it would be to stand up to the people and so it is at this time Joshua needs the power of the blessing from God to Sarai. It is Moshe’s way of telling Joshua that he needs to be a leader.